Piano-bench.



A..B. HANSON. PIANO BENGH.

APPLIQATION FILED CLAN. 15, 1909.

940,804. `Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

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ANNA B.- HANSON,'OF'CI-IICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PIANO-BENCH.

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specification: of Letfersratentz.

Appli'cationledlanuary 15"7 1'90'92 Serial'N'o. 472,389

ToaZZ whom/'it mayl concern:

Be itv known. that. I,41 ANNA B. HANSON, residingv in Chicago in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Piano-Benches, of which the following is a. description,y reference being4 had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

Thisv invention has for itsv object to provide a piano bench which may be quickly and easily adjusted in its elevation by mechanism which is strong and durable and highly eiiicient. j

Another object of this invention is to produce such an adjustable piano bench which will present substantially the same ornamental appearance in all adjustments thereof, the operating mechanism being hidden from view.

Another object of this invention is. to accomplish the foregoing objectsby means of adjusting mechanism involving telescopic seat and base sections with toggle joint seat adjusting mechanismy actuated by rack and pinion means.

Another object of the invention is to preserve the ornamental appearance of a piano bench in its various. adjustments by providing telescopic base and seat sections with the base section forming columns and the telescoping portion ofthe seat section carrying capitals for said columns to be movable with the seat section.

With the above and other` objects in view the invention consistsin the piano bench y `connection between it and the end of the herein shown and described, its parts and combinations of parts and all equivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts in the different views; Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a piano bench. constructed in accordance with this invention with the seat memberin its raised position; Fig. 2 is a similar View thereof with the seat in its lowerk position; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the base section; and, Fig.4 is a transverse sectional View of the piano bench.

In these drawings 10 indicates the upper rectangular frame of a base section which is mounted on ornamental columns 11 ofv any desired configuration to constitute a suitable pedestal for the piano bench. A seat inember 12 telescopingly ts upon the base section by having a boXlike frame 13 surrounding the frame 10 of the base and vertically sli'dalc'ile` thereon, the lower edge ofthe frame 13 having. capitals 14 secured thereto, which are. desirably formed by two strips of moldings, at right angles to eachother, as shown leaving the seat member free to be removed from the base when desired without having to detach the capitals.

The side rails of the frame 10 ofthe base are.y grooved and in them are mounted a pair of sliding frames 15 comprising pairsy of crossed strips firmly *securedk together as shown in Fig. 3, there being a stationary cross piece 16 rigidly fastened to the side pieces of the frame 10 and iittingin the said grooves midway the length of the frame 10.

pinion 18 has a larger washer or flange 21 beneath it on which the rack bars 19 rest and the rack bars are held into engagement with the pinion by means of a guard plate 22 fastened to the cross piece 16 by screws or the like. Thus the rack bars are conned between the flange 21 and the guard plate 22 and between the pinion and the screws. By means of this connection the turning of the crank 2O causes the pinion to feed the rack bars17 in opposite directions and causes the. frames 15 to slide in the grooves of frame 10 toward or away from each other.

Each of the frames 15 has a double toggle frame 10 with its intermediate joints so disposed as to bear on the under side of the seat member 12 and cause said seat member to be raised or lowered according to the position of the frames 15. The toggles comprise a pair of metal bars bent to form U-sliaped members 23 and 2st respectively, the member 23 being' somewhat longer' than the member 24 and having its ends turned inwardly and reduced in diameter to fit within openings formed in the flattened ends of the member 24. The members 23 and 24 are pivotally connected to the end of the frame 10 and the outer member of frame 15 respectively by means of cleats 25, and on the inwardly bent. ends of the member 23 outside of their pivotal connections with the flattened ends of member 24 are mounted rollers 26 to bear against the under side of the seat member 12.

U-shaped roller guides 27 are secured to Patented Nov.` 23,v 1909..

the under side of the seat member 12 and form guides in which the rollers travel during the adjustment of the seat member. These guides 27 also prevent the seat member being lifted from the base in moving the greatest amount of adjustment for the seat member the toggles may be made tojopen to approximately a straight line, and then it is desirable to provide the cover member with springs 28 to bear upon the base member, notches 29 in the frame 10 being provided for that purpose as shown in the drawing. This spring serves to give the toggle joints a tendency to move upwardly when permitted to do so by the turning of the handle, for the spring pressure is exerted on the under side or the roller 26 through the engagement of the roller guides 27 therewith.

The action of the springs 28 is to give the seat an initial tendency to move upwardly when the toggle has been lowered sulliciently to bring its members into practical horizontal alinement, or what is known as a dead center. `W ith this tendency it is `iinpossible for the toggle to attempt to bend downwardly instead of upwardly when the adjusting handle is operated for raising the seat.

The crank handle 20 preferably has a spring arm 30 which gives it a tendency to spring upwardly and at its end is a pin 31 which is adapted to be entered into any one of a series of openings 32 arranged in a circular Yformation around the stud 19 in the bottom plate 33 which is secured to the bottom of the frame 10 and incloses all of the mechanism except the crank handle. By springing the crank handle so as to remove its pin 31 from the openings 32 it may be changed in position to accomplish the adjustment and then rengaged with the nearest opening 32 to the adjusted position where the spring 30 will keep it in engagement and lock the mechanism in its adjusted position.

In operation the piano bench is raised or lowered by merely grasping the crank handle 20 and pulling downwardly thereon to disengage it from the openings 32 and then turning it to the right or left as the case may be, when the turning of the pinion 18 carried thereby causes the rack bars 17 to move in opposite directions and correspondingly move the frames 15 toward 0r away from each other and thereby bend the toggle joints more or less to raise or lower the seat member 12 by the rollers 26 riding thereon.

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The adjustment is positive in either direction because of Ythe engagement of the rollers by the guides 27 and the parts do not Vseparate on lifting the piano bench by means olthe seat member. The adjusting mechan- 'isniisqentirely hidden from view, the crank handle 20,being the only part exposed and its 'location beneath the center of the bench serving to hide it Jfrom view.

The ornamental appearance of the pianoV bench is maintained throughout the adjustment by reason of the telescoping seat and base sections, the boX 13 of the formerl carrying the capitals Vof the Vcolumns 1l of the latter to avoid the separation of ornamental parts by the change in adjustment.

lWhat I claim as my invention is:

1. A piano bench, comprising a base having a grooved frame, sliding frames mounted in the grooves of the base member, a station-ary cross piece extending across the base frame, a crank handle mounted therein, a pinion carried by the crank handle, rack bars connected to the sliding frames and meshing with the opposite sides of the pinion, U-shaped members pivotally mounted on the base frame and the sliding frames respectively, one of the members being longer than the other and having its ends turned inwardly and reduced in diameter to t in openings in the flattened ends of the other member to form toggles, rollers mounted on said inwardly turned ends of the members, and a seat member bearing on the rollers to be raised and lowered by the toggles when the crank handle is turned.

2. A piano bench, comprising a base having columns supporting a grooved rectangular frame, a seat member having a box like portion telescopingly mounted on the frame of the base, capitals for the columns carried by a box like portion of the seat member, sliding frames mounted in the grooves of the base frame, a stationary cross piece extending across the base frame between the sliding trames, a spring crank handle journaled in the cross piece, a pinion carried by the crank handle, rack bars connected tothe sliding :trames and meshing with opposite sides of the pinion, a guard plate extending over the rack bars and the pinion and secured to the stationary cross piece to keep the rack bars `in mesh with the pinion, pairs of U-shaped members pivotally connected to the ends of the base frame and to the sliding frames respectively, one of said frames being longer than the other and having its ends bent inwardly and reduced in diameter to enter openings in the ends of the other U-shaped frame to constitute a toggle therewith, rollers mounted on said inwardly bent ends of the U-shaped members and bearing on the under side of the seat member, roller guides secured to the seat member and extending beneath the rollenter said openings for locking the seat 10 ers, springs mounted on the seat member member in its adjustments.

and adapted to engage the base frame when In testimony whereof, I aix my signathe seatbmember is in its (lowermost politure, in presence of tWo Witnesses.

tion, a o-ttom plate exten in across t e T base frame and inclosing the mchanism eX- AN1\A B' HANSON' eept the crank handle and provided With a Witnesses:

series of openings around the Crank handle, CHARLES H. HANsoN,

and a pin on the crank handle adapted to MABEL WETTERHAHN. 

